Coach fears for BOD successor

JOE SCHMIDT has warned that replacing Brian O’Driscoll (right) will be a thankless task for the contenders who feel they can fill the now vacant No13 shirt.

The Ireland coach had spoken last Wednesday about how Robbie Henshaw might cope with the pressure of making the step up.

Mentored by the retiring O’Driscoll this past year, the expectation was that the Connacht player would be at the top of the queue to step in first in Argentina.

However, that is no longer the case, a hand ligament injury forcing him to miss a tour where Schmidt fears the massive focus on the No13 shirt could have a detrimental effect on those who audition.

‘It’s hard to make comparisons [with the situation of replacing O’Driscoll]. A few guys had to come in and replace Carlos Spencer in the Blues and it ended up being Isa Nacewa.

‘It was a makeshift substitution but he had that much football ability that he coped really well. Was he the same player [as Spencer]? He wasn’t.

‘I sense that one of the dangers is there is going to be a lot of comparisons made with Brian no matter who steps into his shoes. Whoever it is isn’t going to be the same as Brian because people have different strength, different abilities and bring different things to the squad.

‘What I’d hate to think is that if somebody struggles a bit initially they get written off as not good enough to fill the shoes. It is a bit of a thankless task to try to substitute one person and have them try to completely cover everything the other guy was contributing.’